The $250,000 loan granted to the Mississippi Conservatives PAC is secured by a certificate of deposit belonging to an unidentified third party, according to the organization's executive director.

Brian Perry, the director of the PAC supporting U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, said in an interview with The Clarion-Ledger that Trustmark National Bank granted the loan based on collateral provided through a certificate of deposit, and all appropriate paperwork was filed with the FEC. When asked if the certificate of deposit belonged to the PAC or to someone else, Perry said "someone else." He declined to reveal who owns the certificate of deposit.

Perry said there was nothing illegal about the loan. He called the complaint a stunt to help bolster Chris McDaniel, Cochran's GOP primary opponent supported by the Tea Party Patriots.

In their FEC filing, Mississippi Conservatives PAC said there were no guarantors to the loan. Perry said Trustmark Bank president Harry Walker said the owner of the certificate of deposit used as collateral for the loan would not be considered a guarantor, therefore no guarantors were listed.

Nevertheless, Perry admits that they may have to amend their FEC filing because of a possible error that occurred with the software. When filling out the report, the software asks the user if a loan is secured through guarantors. If the user answers "no," it fills out the rest of the loan documents automatically. One of the questions on the FEC report relating to a loan asks if a certificate of deposit is used as collateral. Mississippi Conservative PAC answered "no" to that question.

Perry said the PAC is asking whether or not they need to file an amended report to acknowledge the certificates of deposit. In a separate report received by the FEC on April 30, Mississippi Conservatives PAC filed the promissory note, which shows the certificate of deposit. The FEC, in at least one filing, was made aware of the certificates of deposit being used as collateral.

According to the promissory note, Trustmark "acknowledges this Note is secured by the following collateral described in the security instrument listed herein: certificates of deposit described in an Assignment of Deposit Account dated January 29, 2014." The loan date is Jan. 29.

UPDATE: My colleague, political editor Geoff Pender, was able to talk with Trustmark about the issue. Here's what he got.

A Trustmark spokeswoman said the loan to the PAC was secured, by a certificate of deposit that covers at least the amount of the loan.

"The loan that we have, as the promissory note shows, is a loan that is fully securitized or collateralized by a CD," said Melanie Morgan, director of corporate communications for Trustmark. "A guarantor is not required, because the loan is fully secured."

"The (FEC) filing says there is no guarantor, and there is no guarantor," Morgan said. "But the filing may have been incorrect where it said it was unsecured, because it is secured … The filing does show that, because it's got the promissory note included that shows it's secured."

Morgan said the bank would not reveal who the third party is with the CD – that would be up to the PAC. She said transactions between customers are confidential and she was only speaking to the loan because the promissory note is filed with the FEC and public record.

Of the PAC's FEC paperwork, Morgan said, "That's not our business. We are in the business of banking, and this loan was made in our normal course of business as we do every day for customers. It's a fully secured loan."